Manitoba’s livestock producers have formed a united front to fight proposed waste regulations they say will choke the industry and turn government staff into “manure police.”
Commodity groups met with provincial ministers last week to discuss changes to the policy that would ban farmers from spreading manure in winter.
The proposed new rules point to a provincial environment report that found nutrients carried off manure-spread fields reduce stream water quality.
But the regulation is based on one-sided, flawed, non-scientific information, say officials with Manitoba Pork, the agency that sells 80 percent of hogs in the province.
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During meetings with Manitoba environment officials last week, Marcel Hacault, who sits on the environment committee for Manitoba Pork, said they talked about changing the definition of pollution in the livestock waste regulations contained in the sustainable development act because a zero level isn’t possible.
As well, provincial livestock commodity groups called for more government research into options other than bans. They also discussed a cost-sharing program between governments and farmers to fund a comprehensive study.
Methods of enforcement need to be written into the act, groups said, noting that community sewage lagoons that pollute should be held just as accountable as farmers.
At the Manitoba Pork annual meeting two weeks ago, delegates passed a resolution to initiate an independent study with other commodity groups on the effects of winter manure spreading. It should also compare manure spreading with such things as fall fertilizer and chemical applications, said the resolution.
Hacault said at the annual meeting that if the proposed law stands untouched, the cost of building new storage for manure would drive hundreds of family farms in Manitoba out of business.
“Is it really a problem? Let’s quantify that before bringing in this knee jerk reaction without looking at the alternatives,” he said.
Leaching and run-off problems in Manitoba’s Interlake region last year prompted the proposed ban, said Ted Muir, public affairs director for Manitoba Pork.
